Faculty: Giancarlo Panagia

Program Goals

To be able to evaluate and conduct research within the Justice Studies field

To develop global consciousness, social responsibility, and ethical awareness

To gain a broad understanding of discipline's concepts and perspectives

Program Objectives

The Westminster Justice Studies program treats justice as a broad category of social and political problems that includes issues relating to crime and justice, economic and social justice, human rights, and international justice. Accordingly, students who choose a major in Justice Studies are encouraged to take interdisciplinary coursework that exposes them to different ways of thinking about justice. This includes, but is not limited to, coursework in fields such as Anthropology, Economics, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, and Sociology that helps students understand the nature of justice and why individuals and institutions may or may not behave in a just manner. Justice Studies majors are also required to engage in independent research and experiential learning activities such as internships. The Justice Studies minor affords students an opportunity to view justice through broad, interdisciplinary lenses.

Program Requirements

The Justice Studies program offers a Bachelor of Science in Justice Studies as an academic major and provides for an academic minor in Justice Studies. The Justice Studies academic major requires completion of 60 semester hours of credit selected from Justice Studies' coursework and related classes in the social sciences and selected other coursework. Thirty-two of those hours must be in Justice Studies and related courses numbered 300 or above. Students must maintain a cumulative 2.5 GPA or better in the academic major and minor.

For course prerequisites, please refer to the course description.

Academic Major

Liberal Education Courses

Credit Hours

The following courses, which fulfill LE requirements, are required for the Justice Studies major.

Students must complete 16 hours of coursework from one of four possible emphases: Critical Analysis of Crime and Justice; Gender, Ethnicity and Justice; Economic Justice; and Environment and Justice. See listing below for classes included in each emphasis.

Double-counting of three elective courses is allowed for the Psychology major in the following emphases:Gender, Ethnicity & Justice: PSYC 320, PSYC 325, and PSYC 335Critical Analysis of Crime & Justice: PSYC 307, PSYC 362, and PSYC 390

Double-counting of one elective course is allowed for the Anthropology minor in the following emphases:Gender, Ethnicity and Justice: ANTH 252, ANTH 355, or ANTH 388 Economic Justice: ANTH 388Environment and Justice: ANTH 377

Note: students completing the Economic Justice emphasis must take at least two ECON courses. Students should consult with their academic advisor concerning the appropriate prerequisites for courses in this emphasis.

Academic Minor

To fulfill the requirements for an academic minor in Justice Studies, students must complete a minimum of 20 semester hours in Justice Studies or related coursework. Twelve of these hours must be in coursework numbered 300 or above.